Trontrail

A premium, high-performance, and visually stunning TRON-style trail rendering system for Multi Theft Auto: San Andreas (MTA:SA). The script renders real-time emissive light walls behind vehicles, handles 3D angled terrain smoothly using mathematical cross products, and includes dynamic collision detection that instantly vaporizes and kills players who hit the trail.

📸 Previews

Here are some screenshots demonstrating the script in action:

Cyan Trail

Red Trail

✨ Features

• Dynamic Lane System: Automatically detects vehicle type. Renders a single centered trail for bikes/BMXs and dual wheel-aligned trails for cars and multi-wheel vehicles.
• Dynamic Glow Lighting: Leverages the dl_lightmanager resource to cast real-time colored light onto the ground and nearby players.
• Angle-Aligned Rendering: Prevents texture twisting on hills or banking by calculating a perfect perpendicular orientation vector using 3D cross products.
• Collision Detection: Performs 2D segment line intersections between the player's path and the trail, blowing up the vehicle and killing the ped upon impact.
• Smoothness Controls: Features gap checks and trail pruning to optimize memory and keep trail segments evenly spaced.

🛠️ Requirements & Installation

1. Make sure you have the dl_lightmanager resource installed and running on your MTA:SA server.
2. Put the trontrail resource folder inside your server's resources directory: [server]/mods/deathmatch/resources/trontrail
3. Start the resource from the server console or in-game admin panel.

⌨️ Server & Console Commands

Use the following commands in the server console (without /) or in the chatbox (with / if you have moderator/admin rights):

| Action | Console Command | Chat Command | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Start the script | start trontrail | /start trontrail | | Stop the script | stop trontrail | /stop trontrail | | Restart the script | restart trontrail | /restart trontrail | | Refresh resources list | refresh | /refresh |

⚙️ Configuration & Customization

You can customize the trail behavior, speed thresholds, and distance window by editing the top portion of client.lua.

Open the file and modify the following variables located at the top:

-- Maximum length in meters of the visible wall window
local MAX_DISTANCE = 500  

-- SPEED PARAMETERS (in km/h)
local SPEED_ON = 35       -- Speed above which the trail activates and starts drawing
local SPEED_OFF = 25      -- Speed below which the trail breaks/turns off

Explanation of Main Variables

• MAX_DISTANCE (Default: 500): Controls the maximum length of the trail behind the vehicle. Increasing this will make trails longer but may affect performance on slower clients due to more rendering segments.

• SPEED_ON (Default: 35): The speed threshold (in km/h) at which the trail begins to emit. The trail will not draw if the vehicle is moving slower than this value.

• SPEED_OFF (Default: 25): The speed threshold (in km/h) below which the trail turns off. If you slow down below this speed, the current segment disconnects, preventing trails from accumulating while stationary.

Other Useful Customizations

• MIN_GAP_DISTANCE (Default: 0.15): The minimum physical distance (in meters) required before generating a new point. Lower values mean smoother trails but more CPU rendering overhead.
• LIGHT_BRIGHTNESS (Default: 0.7): Controls the intensity of the dynamic lighting emitted onto the environment. Range: 0.0 (off) to 2.0+ (ultra-bright).
• LIGHT_SPREAD (Default: 1.0): Adjusts the lateral reach ("X spread") of the glow across the roadway.